Crazy Storm

I’ve decided not to tell Randy what happened. I feel terrible about it but I think it’s the best thing for right now.

Things at work are going pretty slow. The digital paper is up and running and subscribers are now starting to trickle in. I don’t think we’re getting as much interest as the investors would like to see, but I’m hoping it will pick up as things go on especially once Tanya and Todd get the phone app up and running in about a week.

Stormy sent me an e-mail asking me to grab lunch away from our normal group. I wasn’t all that attached to my tuna salad sandwich I brought so I agreed. We went to a pub down the street from our building and settled in a booth.
Two cheeseburgers, two baskets of fries, and two sodas ordered later, Stormy and I sat and waited.

“So, why did you ask me here?” I asked sipping my soda.

“Things are going really poorly with Rose, Faith. Like, REALLY bad.” Stormy kept looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“She has gone NUTS. She thinks I’m cheating on her-”

“Are you?” I asked nonchalantly.

Stormy gave me an indignant look.

“No! Honestly, I’d be too afraid to. She stole my phone so she could look through the contacts and read all of my text messages. She wouldn’t admit to taking it but I couldn’t find it for a few hours and then in mysteriously turned up.”

“Are you sure you didn’t just lose it?”

“Yes! She’s been making references to texts I’ve sent to female friends. She’s made too many references for it to be a coincidence.”

“Were they flirty texts?”

“No. Just, like, work related things. Or errand things.”

Just then our cheese burgers and fries arrived. Stormy went on while I dug in.

“She follows me if I leave our apartment. Last night I went to the laundromat near our apartment and she followed me and watched me do the laundry.”

“Wow.” I said

“Faith…there’s more.” He said. His voice had shifted and my ears perked.

“What?” I asked.

“She thinks I’m cheating on her…”

“Yeah you said that already.” I said absentmindedly waving a fry.

“…With you.”

“WHAT!? WHY!?”

“Because of that night I came over to hang out. She thinks we’ve been seeing each other behind her back ever since. She’s CRAZY Faith!”

“Stormy, I don’t need this right now!”

“I’m sorry, Faith. I just wanted to get away from her for a few hours, I didn’t know she’d jump to such an assumption!”

“Tell her we’re not seeing each other.” I said frantically.

“She doesn’t believe me. I’ve tried.”

“Then I’ll tell her. I’m sure this private lunch you wanted to have is probably not helping ease her suspicions.”

“Faith, she won’t believe you either. I told you she’s CRAZY. She won’t listen to anyone.”

“Why did you want to tell me this?”

“I was worried she’d bring it up at work and you’d be caught off guard.”

“That’s the only reason?”

“No. Not…not exactly.”

Stormy suddenly avoided my eyes.

“What is it?”

“I’m going to sump her…soon…and I…I’m going to need a place to stay. You’re the only person I’m friends with that Rose doesn’t know the address of.”

“Are you kidding me?” I couldn’t keep the anger out of my voice.

Stormy looked defeated; like he didn’t have anything else to lose.

“How long would you need to stay?” I asked, my voice softening a bit.

“A few weeks. Long enough for me to find a new apartment, get off the lease of Rose’s apartment, and get all of my stuff moved around.”

“When are you planning on doing this?”

“I’m not sure; I’m waiting for a good time, when she’s distracted or something. Soon, though. Really soon. I might go crazy myself, if I don’t get away from her.”

I sighed.

“Okay.” I shrugged wearily, “You can sleep on my couch for awhile. But if I want time alone with my boyfriend you need to go get some coffee or something.” I joked weakly.

Stormy looked a little more at ease than he had been. I think knowing that he had somewhere he could go if he needed to helped lift some weight off of his shoulders.